Law

escaped the attentions of later restorers. Jenkins and Middleton, 1988, in the context of discussing ‘The Accretions on the Architectural Members from the Acropolis’, note in respect of the Wall block taken from the Propylaea (BM Cat. Sculpture 435) that ‘a kymation pattern is clearly preserved by differential weathering of the stone’, but without asking the fundamental question as to why differential weathering had occurred in the first place. Without entering into the debate as to whether the Parthenon was originally ‘coloured from top to toe’, there is indeed ‘a direct relationship between the [orange-brown] accretions and the original surface of the marble, where it survives’ (Jenkins and Middleton, p. 198), and “that where the stone exhibits traces of the original tooling, representing an ‘original’ surface, the [orange-brown] coating is present; where it is broken or weathered, usually no coating exists” (Jenkins and Middleton, p. 200). Wax is remarkably resistant at normal temperatures to natural degradation, as is demonstrated admirably by the late 6th century kores in the Acropolis Museum. The samples of the orange-brown accretions analysed at the National Gallery, London, by Raymond White,

escaped the attentions of later restorers. Jenkins and Middleton, 1988, in the context of discussing 'The Accretions on the Architectural Members from the Acropolis', note in respect of the Wall block taken from the Propylaea (BM Cat. Sculpture 435) that 'a kymation pattern is clearly preserved by differential weathering of the stone', but without asking the fundamental question as to why differential weathering had occurred in the first place. Without entering into the debate as to whether the Parthenon was originally 'coloured from top to toe', there is indeed 'a direct relationship between the [orange-brown] accretions and the original surface of the marble, where it survives' (Jenkins and Middleton,p. 198), and "that where the stone exhibits traces of the original tooling, representing an 'original' surface, the [orange-brown] coating is present; where it is broken or weathered, usually no coating exists" (Jenkins and Middleton,p. 200). Wax is remarkably resistant at normal temperatures to natural degradation, as is demonstrated admirably by the late 6th century kores in the Acropolis Museum.
The samples of the orange-brown accretions analysed at the National Gallery, London, by Raymond White, Law PII:S0260-4779(01)00011-5 Asking the Experts On 6 March 2001 the Charity Commission for England and Wales will launch a new consultation on the charitable status of museums and art galleries as part of its on-going Review of the Register of Charities. The Review is one of the ways whereby the Commission carries out its aim to give using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, did not detect significant organic components (Jenkins and Middleton,p. 203), which was to be expected, though other researchers have not ruled out degraded organic surface coatings as the source of the oxalate minerals identified in them. Indeed the lack of 'wax ghosts' in the marble surfaces of the Parthenon frieze, combined with the parallell evidence provided by differential weathering, strongly suggests that the frieze of the Parthenon at least was originally coated with a layer of material of sufficient thickness as to be capable of absorbing the excess medium of any encaustic applied hot. For both practical and aesthetic reasons this must have covered the entire exposed surfaces of the frieze, but it is for others to debate as to what extent the surface of the marble itself was visible in 432 B.C. when the Parthenon stood completed.
Peter Cannon-Brookes the public confidence in the integrity of charity 1 . In the United Kingdom museums and galleries have been considered charitable for well over a hundred years. They are charitable because they, for the public benefit, advance education and/or promote art. The consultation is not seeking to change the position of charitable museums and art galleries. But the consultation will take forward a number of issues which require clarifying when registering museums and art galleries as charitable. In particular, the consultation will focus on: ț How the educational or artistic quality of collections is decided; ț The use of expert opinion to assist in determining quality; ț The level of public access required for such collections; and ț The independence of governance of charitable museums and art galleries and how far private benefit is permissible in the conduct of museums and art galleries.
The issue of artistic or educational merit is likely to prove a popular consultation topic. The Commission hopes that the consultation process will establish criteria to help gauge educational or artistic quality which can be applied by Commission staff when looking at applications for registration. In the consultation document the Commission sees some collections as having obvious quality (i.e. where the high calibre of the exhibits or their educational value is self-evident). It sees others as having ascertainable quality---that which can be determined clearly against a set of criteria. Outside these obvious and ascertainable quality bands, the Commission sees the need for independent expert evidence on the quality of the collection in order that it may be accepted as art or educational. The consultation document considers how the use of expert opinion will work in practice, and seeks views on what qualifies as "expert" in this context.
The consultation document also looks at the loan of exhibits to museums and art galleries which then have to insure and maintain them. It looks at the potential for conflicts of interest in those circumstances, especially if owners are also trustees of the museum or art gallery concerned.
The issue of public access to collections is increasingly of concern to the public and media. The Commission generally sees the need for museums and art galleries to be open to the public as a requirement of their charitable status. However, the consultation document also canvasses restriction of access, for example, to members or a particular group of individuals (e.g. university collections). The consultation proffers circumstances where restriction is permissible. ț to ensure that charities are able to operate for their purposes within an effective legal, accounting and governance framework; ț to improve the governance, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness of charities; and ț to identify and deal with abuse and poor practices.

Editors' Note
The above statement from the Charity Commission for England and Wales is published, in its entirety and unedited, as a contribution to what will undoubtedly be a debate of great significance to the museum communities in the Common-Law countries. The Editors will be happy to receive contributions devoted to this topic for publication in this Journal, and also copies of any submissions made by its readers to the Charity Commission.
Neil Mackenzie